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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. land — a country
  3. hand — in cards
  4. perch — the fish
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. court — of law
  12. fine — high quality
  13. land — ground
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. branch — a division
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. land — to come down
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. perch — for a bird

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com